30 YEARS ADE: Our history as told by Gary Smith – Part Two
A multi-genre church
In the early years of the event, the sound of ADE - if such a thing can truly exist - was initially dominated by the House music of DJ Sneak and Jesse Saunders. Then, slowly but surely, the event folded in more and more sub-genres, and by the mid-2000s was already well on the way to becoming the broad, multi-genre church (or cathedral if you prefer) whose live offer had something for absolutely everyone. And then there are the countless thousands of artists at ADE Festival. They initially brought their talent to Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein, but these days they light up the whole city for four long nights.
Anna Knaup, founder of Anna Agency and taking over the wheel at Amsterdam Dance Event after Maria Jiménez: 'When I took over from Maria in 1997 the priority was to find a new venue. We moved to the Felix Meritis in 1998, which wasn't ideal, but considerably better than De Roode Hoed, and able to cope with the growing number of delegates we were seeing year on year. We also wanted to expand the nighttime element by folding in more sub-genres, and that was the start of the all-embracing ADE festival that we see today.”
Dutch DJs dominating the charts
Meanwhile in the background, soon-to-be-massive local talents Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Marco V, Misja Helsloot, Sander van Doorn and Tiësto, were getting noticed, marking the start of a period of Netherlands’ DJs dominating the upper reaches of the DJ Magazine Top 100 that lasted for the next 10 years.
Since that golden time for Trance, ADE Festival has played host to every imaginable major act as the number of venues doubled and tripled each year, reaching an astonishing total of 300 in 2025.
A multi-genre church
In the early years of the event, the sound of ADE - if such a thing can truly exist - was initially dominated by the House music of DJ Sneak and Jesse Saunders. Then, slowly but surely, the event folded in more and more sub-genres, and by the mid-2000s was already well on the way to becoming the broad, multi-genre church (or cathedral if you prefer) whose live offer had something for absolutely everyone. And then there are the countless thousands of artists at ADE Festival. They initially brought their talent to Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein, but these days they light up the whole city for four long nights.
Anna Knaup, founder of Anna Agency and taking over the wheel at Amsterdam Dance Event after Maria Jiménez: 'When I took over from Maria in 1997 the priority was to find a new venue. We moved to the Felix Meritis in 1998, which wasn't ideal, but considerably better than De Roode Hoed, and able to cope with the growing number of delegates we were seeing year on year. We also wanted to expand the nighttime element by folding in more sub-genres, and that was the start of the all-embracing ADE festival that we see today.”
Dutch DJs dominating the charts
Meanwhile in the background, soon-to-be-massive local talents Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Marco V, Misja Helsloot, Sander van Doorn and Tiësto, were getting noticed, marking the start of a period of Netherlands’ DJs dominating the upper reaches of the DJ Magazine Top 100 that lasted for the next 10 years.
Since that golden time for Trance, ADE Festival has played host to every imaginable major act as the number of venues doubled and tripled each year, reaching an astonishing total of 300 in 2025.
ADE's iconic home
A move from De Balie to De Rode Hoed for 1997 was quickly followed by ADE installing itself in the aforementioned Felix Meritis in 1998 - with the Dylan Hotel being folded in a few years later as an extra venue - for an unbroken run that would last until 2017, at which point the 17th century building was closed for major renovations and a much needed infrastructure upgrade.
There followed three years in the sublime, chandelier-lit De La Mar Theatre next to the American Hotel, then two years of online-only editions due to COVID that were also marked by the event’s first-ever directorial duopoly in the form of ADE's current director Jan Willem van de Ven and ex-Spinning Records marketing executive Meindert Kennis.
Those two COVID editions were broadcast from the newly-refurbished Felix Meritis, and then ADE was back in its iconic home in 2022. These days, the event counts the Andaz and Rosewood Hotels as its satellite venues.
ADE's iconic home
A move from De Balie to De Rode Hoed for 1997 was quickly followed by ADE installing itself in the aforementioned Felix Meritis in 1998 - with the Dylan Hotel being folded in a few years later as an extra venue - for an unbroken run that would last until 2017, at which point the 17th century building was closed for major renovations and a much needed infrastructure upgrade.
There followed three years in the sublime, chandelier-lit De La Mar Theatre next to the American Hotel, then two years of online-only editions due to COVID that were also marked by the event’s first-ever directorial duopoly in the form of ADE's current director Jan Willem van de Ven and ex-Spinning Records marketing executive Meindert Kennis.
Those two COVID editions were broadcast from the newly-refurbished Felix Meritis, and then ADE was back in its iconic home in 2022. These days, the event counts the Andaz and Rosewood Hotels as its satellite venues.
